Alzheimer's disease

or Alzheimer disease

a common form of dementia, believed to be caused by changes in the brain, usually beginning in late middle age, characterized by memory lapses, confusion, emotional instability, and progressive loss of mental ability.

Also called Alzheimer’s.

Origin of Alzheimer's disease

named after Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), German neurologist, who described it in 1907

(senium præcox), 1912, title of article by S.C. Fuller published in "Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases;" named for German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915). The name was not common before 1970s; shortened form Alzheimer's first recorded 1954. The surname is from the place name Alzheim, literally "Old Hamlet."

(äls'hī-mərz) A progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, commonly affecting the elderly, and associated with the development of amyloid plaques in the cerebral cortex. It is characterized by confusion, disorientation, memory failure, speech disturbances, and eventual dementia. The cause is unknown. Alzheimer's disease is named for its identifier, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915).